diff --git a/bitnami/consul/1/debian-11/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/libconsul.sh b/bitnami/consul/1/debian-11/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/libconsul.sh
index 9bde8da5861f..8d3e465b831f 100644
--- a/bitnami/consul/1/debian-11/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/libconsul.sh
+++ b/bitnami/consul/1/debian-11/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/libconsul.sh
@@ -108,8 +108,6 @@ consul_configure_encryption() {
 
         if [[ -z ${CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY} ]]; then
             CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY=$("${CONSUL_BASE_DIR}/bin/consul" "keygen")
-        else
-            CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(base64 <<<"${CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY}")
         fi
 
         # In case the node name was not set, we automatically set
diff --git a/bitnami/consul/README.md b/bitnami/consul/README.md
index dc82682f643d..3c915787bd64 100644
--- a/bitnami/consul/README.md
+++ b/bitnami/consul/README.md
@@ -295,8 +295,8 @@ When you start the HashiCorp Consul image, you can adjust the configuration of t
 * `CONSUL_RAFT_MULTIPLIER`: An integer multiplier used by HashiCorp Consul servers to scale key Raft timing parameters. Default: **1**.
 * `CONSUL_LOCAL_CONFIG`: Custom user configuration that will be added as a file in the config dir.
 * `CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION`: Enable Gossip encryption. Default: **no**.
-* `CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY`: Gossip private simmetric key.
-* `CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE`: File containing the gossip private simmetric key. If both `CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY` and `CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE` are provided, consul will use the `CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE`.
+* `CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY`: Base64-encoded gossip private symmetric key. Can be generated by running `consul keygen`.
+* `CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE`: File containing the gossip private symmetric key. If both `CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY` and `CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE` are provided, consul will use the `CONSUL_GOSSIP_ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE`.
 * `CONSUL_DISABLE_KEYRING_FILE`: If set, the keyring will not be persisted to a file. Valid vaules: true, false. Default: **false**.
 * `CONSUL_ENABLE_UI`: Enable web user interface. Valid values: true, false. Default: **true**.
 * `CONSUL_BOOTSTRAP_EXPECT`: Number of expected nodes in the cluster, including itself. Default: **1**.